Aishwarya Rai's 41 Cannes red carpet looks that show how much her style has changed

Elie Saab, Roberto Cavalli and Sophie Couture are among the high-end brands the former Miss World has flaunted at the French showpiece

2002: From left, director Sanjay Leela Bhansali, actress Aishwarya Rai and Shah Rukh Khan at the premiere of their film Devdas during the 55th Cannes Film Festival. Getty Images

2003: Aishwarya Rai opted for an ethnic Indian look by Neeta Lulla during her second year at Cannes. Getty Images

2003: Aishwarya Rai arrives for the screening of the film Matrix Reloaded. Getty Images

2003: Writer Erri De Lucca, actress Aishwarya Rai and director Steven Soderbergh attend the opening ceremony of the 56th International Cannes Film Festival. Getty Images

2005: Aishwarya Rai attends the premiere of the film Lemming at Le Palais de Festival on the opening night of the 58th International Cannes Film Festival. Getty Images

2005: Aishwarya Rai attends the premiere of the film Match Point at the Palais during the 58th International Cannes Film Festival. Getty Images

2006: Aishwarya Rai at the opening ceremony of the 59th Cannes Film Festival. Getty Images

2006: Actresses Kerry Washington, Andie MacDowell and Aishwarya Rai attend the The Wind That Shakes The Barley premiere during the 59th International Cannes Film Festival. Getty Images

2007: Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai, then newly married, arrive at the My Blueberry Nights premiere at the opening night of the 60th Cannes festival. Getty Images

2008: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan wears Roberto Cavalli at the premiere of the film Vicky Cristina Barcelona at the 61st International Cannes Film Festival. Getty Images

2009: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan attends the Up premiere in Roberto Cavalli. Getty Images

2010: In Elie Saab at the Robin Hood premiere. Getty Images

2010: In Armani Prive at the On Tour premiere. Getty Images

2010: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, in a Sabyasachi sari, and Abhishek Bachchan attend the Outrage premiere. Getty Images

2011: In Elie Saab at the 2011 opening ceremony. Getty Images

2011: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan arrives at the Sleeping Beauty premiere during the 64th Annual Cannes Film Festival. Getty Images

2013: In Gucci at the Cleopatra premiere. Getty Images

2013: Aishwarya Rai wears Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla to the Blood Ties premiere at the 66th Annual Cannes Film Festival. Getty Images

2014: One of her most memorable movie star moments, wearing Roberto Cavalli at the Two Days, One Night (Deux Jours, Une Nuit) premiere during the 67th Annual Cannes Film Festival. Getty Images

2014: At The Search premiere. Getty Images

2015: In jewel-toned Elie Saab at the Carol premiere. Getty Images

2015: In a classic Oscar de la Renta at a photocall for her film Jazbaa. Getty Images

2015: In Ralph & Russo Couture at the premiere of Youth during the 68th annual Cannes Film Festival. Getty Images

2016: At the Slack Bay (Ma Loute) premiere. Getty Images

2017: In Ralph & Russo Couture at the 120 Beats Per Minute (120 Battements Par Minute) screening. Getty Images

2017: Aishwarya Rai in a Georges Hobeika floral gown. Getty Images

2017: A memorable fashion moment in Dubai designer Michael Cinco's princess gown at the Okja screening during the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival. Getty Images

2018: Aishwarya Rai attends the screening of Girls Of The Sun (Les Filles Du Soleil) during the 71st annual Cannes Film Festival. She's wearing Michael Cinco. Getty Images

2018: Another view of the gorgeous dress by Filipino designer Michael Cinco, who is based in Dubai. Getty Images

2018: At the screening of Sink Or Swim (Le Grand Bain) in a look by Lebanese design house Rami Kadi Couture. Getty Images

2019: In a very directional Jean Louis Sabaji Couture gown. EPA

2019: This fluffy white look is by Saudi brand Ashi Studio. AFP

2019: A close up-look of the Ashi Studio gown. AP

2022: The actress turned heads at the screening of Armageddon Time wearing a dramatic architectural gown in pale pink, covered with silver embellishment, by Indian designer Gaurav Gupta. Reuters

A close-up of the dramatic look. AFP

2022: At the Top Gun: Maverick in a Dolce & Gabbana black gown with floral details. Getty Images

A close-up of the look. EPA

2023: A dramatic gown by Sophie Couture. Getty Images

CANNES, FRANCE - MAY 16: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan attends the "Megalopolis" Red Carpet at the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 16, 2024 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Matthew Baker / Getty Images)

The black-corseted gown featured billowy white sleeves as well as a train embedded with gold flowers. AFP

CANNES, FRANCE - MAY 17: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan attends the "Kinds Of Kindness" Red Carpet at the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 17, 2024 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Andre Pain - Pool / Getty Images)

As Aishwarya Rai Bachchan stepped out at the Cannes Film Festival on Thursday evening in a black, white and gold gown, it marked the Indian celebrity's 22nd turn on the festival's red carpet. Having made her first appearance during the premiere of Devdas in 2002, she became the first Bollywood actress to be a jury member at the festival in 2003, the year she became a global brand ambassador for L'Oreal.

Being the face of the beauty brand has led to a host of red carpet appearances over the years. And along with her movie premieres, including 2016's Sarbjit, and her work with other luxury brands such as Longines, she's been turning heads with her striking, if sometimes divisive, looks at the festival.

Initially, Roberto Cavalli was her go-to designer, but she's also been known to represent names from the Middle East and South Asia.

She frequently wears Lebanese designers, especially Rami Kadi and Elie Saab.

She's also a huge fan of Filipino designer from Dubai, Michael Cinco, who has designed two of her most memorable looks at Cannes, including one voluminous blue gown in 2017 that caused quite a stir.

Closer to her home, she's worn pieces by Indian design houses Sabyasachi and the duo Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla numerous times on the red carpet.

Rai Bachchan is also a huge fan of British brand Ralph & Russo's go-big-or-go-home, structural gowns.

In 2022, she was seen in a dramatic black-and-floral gown by Dolce & Gabbana, and turned heads in a pale pink architectural creation, covered with silver embellishment, by Indian designer Gaurav Gupta.

Last year, Rai Bachchan made only one red carpet appearance, but ensured she was the talk of the town with a dramatic silver gown by Sophie Couture. The heavily embellished gown featured a giant hood and the dress was finished off with a large black bow.

For her 22nd appearance this year, Rai Bachchan looked to her home country again, wearing another head-turning ensemble by Indian designer duo Falguni and Shane Peacock.

The black corseted gown came with billowy white sleeves with gold accents splattered across the front of the dress. There was more gold on the train in the form of giant gold flowers.

Rai Bachchan's finished her look with a plastered arm, from an unspecified injury.

Her look the next day, a shimmery double-shaded green and silver gown complete with a dramatic trail, had the internet even more divided.

While some praised her for having a ball on the Cannes red carpet with her fashion, many compared her dress, also by Falguni and Shane Peacock, to a pinata, the Spanish decorative figure usually stuffed with candies that's hung and then broken at parties.

Rai Bachchan was greeted on the red carpet by fellow L'Oreal ambassador Eva Longoria, who wore a sequin-embellished Elie Saab Haute Couture gown, and the pair took a moment to pose for a photo together.